Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)

Monday, September 19, 2005

COR and compulsory salvation: are you guilty of treason?

In a letter dated May 1993, addressed to "Dear friends of C.O.R. [Coalition On Revival] and Crosswinds," Dr. Jay Grimstead wrote to a newly formed "Church Council Steering Committee. This Steering Committee" was made up of forty well-known Charismatic leaders and Reconstructionists, united upon a common doctrine of "dominionism" pertaining to building the Kingdom of God here on Earth. Here are a few scary quotes from this letter:

"1. The Kingdom of God was inaugurated and the King was installed and seated in the First Century A.D. and we need not wait for the King's second coming to get the Kingdom started here on earth....

"4. At this moment of history, all humans on earth, whether Jew or Gentile, believer or unbeliever, private person or public official, are OBLIGATED TO BOW THEIR KNEES to THIS King Jesus, confess Him as Lord of the universe with their tongues, and submit to His lordship over every aspect of their lives in thought, word and deed.

"5. Biblical evangelism according to the Great Commission of Matt. 28:18-20 is not truly accomplished unless that message of Christ's lordship from point #4 above is given to the person being evangelized SO THAT THEY KNOW that an attempt at PERSONAL NEUTRALITY BEFORE KING JESUS IS SIN and TREASON in this universe....

"7. The Lord's Prayer stating that "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" was meant to be prayed by us with the hope that this condition would happen on earth BEFORE Christ's second coming wherever and whenever the Christians of any geography decided to band together to help make it happen."

The Truth:

For more information on the doctrines of dominionism and the interlocking network of Charismatic and Reconstructionist leaders intent on building the Kingdom of God on earth, we refer the viewer to a book by Al Dager (Sword Publishers) entitled Vengeance Is Ours: The Church In Dominion which can be ordered at 206-391-7315.

To learn about the history of Church and State, and these doctrines of compulsory worship, read Paul Shirk's book Come Out of Her My People. The only place this book is sold is Discernment Ministries at http://www.discernment-ministries.org. (903-567-6423) An extended quotation from Shirk's book about Church and State is excerpted below (pg. 187-190):

"Christ has been exalted to the right hand of the Father, far above all principalities and powers and as such is reigning over the affairs of this life. On this premise the Scripture is very clear. His kingdom also is portrayed as, "not of this world" but a spiritual rule in the hearts of men; for it cometh not with observation but is within us (Luke 17:10,21), which also extends over all the kingdoms of this world. This is the SPIRITUAL aspect of the kingdom, which makes it differ from all other earthly kingdoms, in that the rule of Christ not only governs the outward actions but also the thoughts and intents of the heart. The rule of Christ, which orders the affairs of this world to serve eternal purposes, is also outside the kingdom of heaven, which is comprised ONLY of those who have been born of water and of the Spirit.

"Christ first rules in the hearts of those who have been born again into His kingdom and then shall rule with His saints after the day of the Lord, when righteousness shall cover the earth. The fourteenth chapter of Zecharaiah speaks of a rule of Christ that will not be realized UNTIL HE RETURNS and stands upon the mount of Olives at the day of the Lord. There is certain criteria in this chapter (Zech. 14) that must be met in order for this to be fulfilled, which also illustrated why it must yet be in the future. All the nations of the world must be assembled together against Jerusalem (vs. 2), and then the Lord will go out Himself, and fight against those nations (vs. 3), and bring a great destruction upon them (vs. 12, 13) (Ezekiel 38:18-39;21, Revelations 19:11-21).

"There has NEVER been a time in history when 'all' nations have been gathered outside Jerusalem to battle when the Lord went out against them and slew them with a great slaughter. When Rome came against Jerusalem (in 70 A.D.) this was not 'all' the nations, nor did the Lord lay waste their armies, for they, in fact, wasted Israel. The battle spoke of here is yet future. The Mount of Olives has not cleaved in half (vs. 4) forming a great valley. It is WHEN THESE EVENTS TAKE PLACE that the Lord shall be King over all the earth (vs. 9). This is His second coming as described in Revelation 19:15 when He shall smite the nations and rule them with a rod of iron.

"Some have sought to evade the import of this passage by spiritualizing this coming of the Lord. If the graphic descriptions of this passage are merely spiritual illustrations, then upon what basis do we suppose Christ's first coming was a literal revelation of God in the flesh? Was He merely a phantom figure upon whom a divine spirit rested? Shades of Gnosticism! (Gnostics denied that God could become visible flesh). Any attempt to evade the literal events of this passage is the equal hermeneutics of spiritualizing the first advent....

"The earlier Christians all looked forward to the future rule of Christ upon this earth; but when the CHURCH and the STATE interlocked arms, the Church began spiritualizing the millennial passages and understanding that the reign of Christ would be realized THROUGH CHRISTIAN CIVIL LEADERS. They saw the triumph of Christianity over paganism in Rome as a sign of the thousand years of Christ's rule. Augustine was primarily responsible for making this dogma popular in the church once he fully embraced the concept of a CHURCH STATE.

"This concept was fully embraced by the Reformers also, as they sought to establish "Christian" countries. [Ed note: This concept is once again gaining great momentum as part of the "dominion" and Great Commission "mandates" of the Apostolic Transformation, marketplace missions, etc.]

"But if the rule of Christ was implemented and Satan was bound, why now have the nations of this world become decadent under Christ's civil rule? Has His rule been overthrown? Has it ceased? Why has its prophesied continual increase ceased? How will Christ rule at His second coming over the nations of this earth if those prophecies are already fulfilled? Yet the Scriptures indicate there will be a rule of Christ over the nations at His appearing (Rev. 19:15). There is NOTHING in Scripture to indicate that Christ's direct CIVIL RULE over the NATIONS of this world (even though He now sits at the right hand of God) will occur BEFORE He returns as Lord of Lords and King of Kings. He is now calling men into His Kingdom through the gospel, and those who are called and chosen will be joint heirs together with Him WHEN HE RETURNS. Those who have suffered with Him will also reign.

"We may wonder still what practical bearing the premillennial understanding of prophecy has upon our daily life. A premillennial understanding of prophecy is a major tenet that supports a SEPARATION of CHURCH and STATE as well as RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. If Christ is ruling now, in fulfillment of the millenial prophecies, through civil powers, then they have every right to institute Christian laws, for they themselves are under the rule of Christ, and verily ARE the rule of Christ. It is THIS understanding that undergirded Reformed thinking of the necessity for having National Covenants and binding religious oaths in order to COMPEL men to accept the true faith, so that the civil rule of Christ might be advanced.

"It was the rise of Premillennial thought, largely through the Baptists, that helped to overthrow Postmillennial (and Amillennial to a lesser degree) thinking that all governments of this world should be COERCED to embrace the Christian faith. With the spread of their doctrines through the world, religious liberty was again given its proper Christian understanding and the Church was SEPARATED from the affairs of the STATE."

A Final Comment:

The dominion "mandate" as expressed byGrimstead's letter, therefore, is an example of the new activities to "take the gospel" to the nations, and a doctrine which teaches that nations as a corporate entity can be "saved" through coercions of various kinds. This false doctrine also teaches a present hope rather than the blessed hope to come.

About Me

Check your daily "HERESCOPE." Herescope is an online journal revealing heresies and false teachings affecting the church today. Copyright 2005-2018 held by the author or IRG, Inc. unless otherwise noted. Herescope is a term coined by Lynn Leslie literally meaning "scoping out a heresy." Herescope began as a regular magazine column in The Christian Conscience magazine published during 1995-1998 by IRG, Inc. The Discernment Research Group is an ad hoc fellowship of Christian researchers with roots dating back to 1985.